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Base Product Specification (BPS)

A meta-model for defining and governing product descriptors across Data, AI, Software, and Physical domains.

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Product Thinking

In the modern era, organizations no longer succeed merely by delivering projects; they succeed by delivering enduring products. A product embodies a promise to stakeholders—it is designed, consumed, evolved, and governed over time. This principle applies equally to software, to data, to AI models, and to physical assets. Product thinking reframes delivery from a one-off transaction into a lifecycle of value, accountability, and adaptation. Yet across domains, the vocabulary and structures for describing what a product is, how it is governed, and how it connects to wider ecosystems remain fragmented.

What BPS Is

The Base Product Specification (BPS) is a meta-model designed to address this gap. BPS provides a common foundation for defining, documenting, and exchanging product descriptors in a structured, interoperable manner. It is not itself a deployment template or an execution framework. Instead, it defines the essential grammar from which specialized specifications can be derived: Data Product Deployment Specifications (DPDS), AI Product Deployment Specifications (AIPDS), semantic descriptors such as DPROD, or physical product descriptors. By situating itself above domain-specific languages, BPS creates a unifying baseline that makes diverse products comparable, governable, and exchangeable.

At its core, BPS introduces a small number of universal entities: the Product itself, its Metadata, its Ports of interaction, its Policies, and its Lifecycle. These elements are expressed in a way that is intentionally neutral across technology and sector. A product defined using BPS can be reasoned about in the same way whether it is a corporate data strategy artifact, a software service, a trained AI model, or a physical device.

Why BPS Matters

The scholarly orientation of BPS is intentional. By providing a carefully documented meta-model, BPS allows communities to extend, cite, and debate the specification with rigor. It aligns with principles of open standards and knowledge stewardship: clarity of definition, transparency of governance, and adaptability across contexts. Where domain-specific specifications may change rapidly with technology, BPS remains stable and conceptual, offering a reliable anchor for future generations of specifications.

Practically, BPS enables several outcomes. It allows product teams to declare their artifacts with a shared vocabulary, easing onboarding and governance. It provides regulators, auditors, and compliance officers with a traceable model of what a product is and how it is supposed to operate. It supports AI and automation by giving machines machine-readable descriptors of product semantics and lifecycle states. And it creates a bridge across domains—helping enterprises move from fragmented standards toward a holistic product ecosystem.

In short, BPS is not another competing standard but a base layer: a foundation upon which diverse product specifications can stand, interoperate, and evolve. It embodies the conviction that if the future of enterprise is product-driven, then the language of products must itself be standardized, scholarly, and enduring.

Core Pillars of BPS

The Base Product Specification is a meta-model designed for serious, cross-domain work. These pillars express its intent and the qualities that guide design, documentation, and adoption.

Universality

One meta-model spanning Data, AI, Software, and Physical domains; stable concepts, domain extensions.

Rigor

Clear definitions, citable structure, and change discipline suited to scholarly and standards contexts.

Governance

Lifecycle, policy, and accountability are first-class—supporting compliance, audit, and stewardship.

Interoperability

Bridges diverse specifications; enables comparable descriptors and machine-readable exchange.

Quick Access

Read the Framework

Start with the rationale, scope, and meta-model entities that form the BPS core.

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Use Cases & Applications

See how BPS informs AIPDS/AIPROD, and product catalogs across domains.

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Governance & Roles

Charter, roles, decision process, and versioning. How BPS evolves responsibly.

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Glossary & Definitions

Precise terms and notations to support unambiguous reading and implementation.

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BPS Meta-Model (Overview)

ProductMetadataPortsPoliciesLifecycle

A product is defined with universal entities that remain stable across domains. Domain-specific specs (e.g., AIPDS/AIPROD, DPDS/DPROD or any other product) extend this base.

Citation & Roadmap

“BPS defines the essential grammar for product specifications across domains, creating a foundation that is stable, citable, and interoperable.”

— BPS Charter

Current Focus

  • MVP meta-model: Product, Metadata, Ports, Policies, Lifecycle
  • AIPDS/AIPROD development and alignment notes
  • Versioning and contribution workflow hardening

Next

  • Reference serialization examples (YAML/JSON/Turtle)
  • Conformance guidance & mapping templates
  • Print/PDF styles for formal review